Building attic ventilators



June 20, 1961 L. s. DAVIS BUILDING ATTIC VENTILATORS Filed Aug. 18, 1958INVENTOR.

LAWA-Wcz- 6. 041 /8 Patented June 20, 1961 Filed Aug. 18, 1958, Ser. No.755,5 3 Claims. (Cl. 98-121) This invention relates to building atticventilators and more particularly pertains to a pre-fabricated, quickset, sheet metal building ventilator for attic installations.

Attic ventilators in the gable and on the roof have been employedheretofore to facilitate air circulation of the area under the roof ofbuildings particularly dwellings, however, the several devices of theprior art have not proven entirely satisfactory inasmuch as the gableventilators are usually built on the job and require much time and labordue to the particular angulation of the cuts of the material required bythe angles and tapers involved, and, while these devices arefunctionally satisfactory they are not satisfactory from the stand pointof economy because because they are complicated in design andconstruction, expensive to make on the job, and difficult to install.

With the foregoing in view, the primary object of the invention is toprovide a pre-fabricated, quick set, sheet metal building ventilatorparticularly suitable for on the job installations as a unit, which iseasy to use and install, and obviates the necessity of making the unitson the job.

The object of the invention is to provide a gable ventilator which canbe quickly set up in position by moving the spanning side memberU-channels into embracing relationship with the roof joists whichposition is accomplished by the use of the slanting sill for insertionby by-passing and camming into proper place.

An object of the invention is to provide a base member such as a sill, aspan member such as an arch or triangulated top pieces, and louversdisposed between the sides of the span member which louvers haveoppositely rolled front and back edges for lending strength to thelouvers over their longitudinal extent with the louvers being equippedwith tub ends for attachment to the span member sides.

An object of the invention is to provide the louvers with oppositelyrolled front and back edges for the purpose of bafliing air and blockingthe line of visual sight therebetween.

These and other objects will become apparent by reference to thefollowing description of a quick-set, sheetmetal, pre-fabricatedventilator embodying the invention taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing in which FIG. 1 is a face elevational view of atriangular gable ventilator.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1,somewhat enlarged, showing the structural deposition of the device inconnection with a building structure.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the ventilator partiallypositioned; and

FIG. 4 is enlarged partial view showing the end con struction of thesill, span members, and bottom louvers.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like numerals refer to like andcorresponding parts throughout the several views, the prefabricatedventilator disclosed therein to illustrate the invention comprises asill 10, spanning side members 11 and 12, louvers 13 disposed betweenthe side members 11 and 12, back bug screen 14, and a verticalanti-wind-rattle connecting strip 15.

The building gable has a roof Z1 and rafters 20 defining the two topsides of a triangular opening with the sub-sill 22 defining the bottomside of the triangular opening with size and angle of the openingco-ordinated to the particular ventilator to be installed.

The ventilator side members 11 and 12 are composed of strip sheet metalwhich has an upturned flange 30 at the back and an upturned flange 40 atthe front which together with the web section 41 form a U-shaped channelfor receiving the roof rafters 20 therein, and if desired, thesheet'metal strip can be formed with a downwardly extended front flange42 for covering the louver attachment tab ends 47 to the side'members 11and 12; the bug screen 14 is folded over the back flange 30 and theinverted U-shaped channel member 43 is fitted over the screen and backflange 30 and clinched thereon along its longitudinal length or atintervals so as to hold the screen in position and in the event the sill10 is made of wood the bottom of the screen is nailed thereto as at 44.

The louvers 13 are equipped with a downwardly inwardly curved edge 45 atthe front side and an upwardly inwardly curved edge 46 at the back sideand they are also equipped with end tabs 47 at either end to facilitatespot welding or riveting to the side span members web section 41. Theside span members 11 and 12 are equipped with a tab 50 at the bottom fornailing to the wood sill 10 or spot welding to a metal sill and thebottom louver l3-A is provided with an extending flange 51 for nailingto the sill instead of the downwardly curved rolled edge 45. Theconnecting strip 15 is secured to the louvers and side members byrivets, FIG. 1, or by welding.

The louver is made in various stock sizes with various angle side spanpieces and sills so as to accommodate the various roof pitches and toalso provide for various size ventilator areas for various size attics.

The device can be quickly installed by inserting the apex 60 of theventilator at the apex of the roof rafters 21 by sliding the back flangeassembly 30A consisting of flange 30, folded screen top 14, and channelmember 43 under the roof rafters 20 with tilt space being allowed by theangulation of the sill 16} as seen in FIG. 3; upon further movement ofthe sill 10 to the left as seen in the drawing at FIG. 3, the backflange assembly 30-A will move to the position seen in FIG. 2 as thesill moves from the position seen in FIG. 3 to the position seen in FIG.2; the applicator then has merely to nail the sill 10 to the sub-sill 22and the device is installed; if desired the applicator can also nail theouter flange 40 to the roof rafters.

Due to the fact that permanent jigs and fixtures for various sizes andangles can be accurately made at the factory and the louvers, sidepieces, and sills accurately and quickly cut, the attic louver can bemanufactured for a portion of the cost for which a wooden louver couldbe made on the job by carpenters who have to measure each and everyangle and measure each and every out and then assemble same.

Although but a single embodiment of the ventilator has been shown anddescribed in detail, it is obvious that many changes may be made insize, shape, detail, and arrangements of the various elements of theventilator within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pre-fabricated quick-set, sheet-metal building ventilatorparticularly suitable for gable installation wherein the building has atriangular opening defined at the bottom by a sub-sill and at thetop-sides by roof rafters, comprising a bottom sill member havingopposite ends, paired side members each having a bottom end in contactwith one of said sill members opposite ends, means connecting the bottomend of each said side member to its respective end of said sill member;said side members having top ends; said side members inclining towardeach other and inwardly-upwardly over said sill member in spacedrelation to said sill member with their top ends in mutual contactdefining a top corner; said sill and side members forming a triangle;said side members each having a front upstanding flange adapted tooverlie and fit against a corresponding roof rafters outer side and aback upstanding flange adapted to overlie a corresponding roof raftersinner side; said sill and side members back flange each having a backside; a bug screen disposed between said sill and side members overlyingtheir back sides; said bug screen having a folded portion over said sidemembers back flanges; a channel member disposed over said screen foldedportion and said side members back flanges so as to encompass same; saidchannel member being clamped thereon to secure said screen and sidemembers together; means securing said screen to said sill member;louvers disposed between said side members in spaced relation to oneanother, and means connecting said lonvers to said side members; saidside members and said front and back flanges defining an upwardlyopening U-shape in cross section.

2. In a device as set forth in claim 1, said sill member having an innerside and an outer side; said sill member being inclined upwardly andforwardly from front to rear so as to be spaced above said buildingsub-sill at its inner side when mounted; said ventilator device beinginsertable in said building opening by inclining said top corner towardthe building and locating said corner at the apex of the roof rafterswith said side members upwardly opening U-shape leading into the raftersthereabove and then moving said sill inwardly sidewise over saidsub-sill whereupon the angulation of said sill cams against the sub-sillmoving said ventilator upwardly so that said side members U-shapedcross-section embraces the roof 4 rafters with said members back flangeat the back of the rafters, said side members front flange at the frontof the rafters, and said side members at the bottom of the rafters.

3. In a device as set forth in claim 1, each said louver having tab endssecured to said side members, a front side edge downwardly and inwardlycurved, and a back side edge upwardly and forwardly curvedysaid frontside downwardly curved edge of an upper louver and said back sideupwardly curved edge of the next lower louver being disposed onapproximately the same horizontal plane so as to bathe air movement andto block visual sight therebetween; said curved edges providingstructural reinforcement to said louver members intermediate their ends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,790,733 Tracy Feb. 3, 1931 2,155,483 Goldberg Apr. 25, 1939 2,480,562Ewing Aug. 30, 1949 2,540,091 Brackney Feb. 6, 1951 2,587,509 Moyer Feb.26, 1952 2,645,992 Simblest July 21, 1953 2,726,595 Jones Dec. 13, 19552,758,534 Smith Aug. 14, 1956 2,770,335 Sylvan Nov. 13, 1956 2,855,841Smith Oct. 14, 1958 OTHER REFERENCES Sommerfeld, Inc., Catalogue 1953,extruded aluminum louvers, pages 4, 5.

